With the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act now law, Realtor.com examined how local governments might finally rein in the red tape choking off new home construction, including through the law's $200 million innovation fund, a competitive grant program for jurisdictions that can show they have reformed permitting, zoning, and related programs. The piece features Swiftbuild, founded by Sabrina Dugan and John Mirkin, which helps counties automate and streamline their permitting and land development processes and now serves Walton County and about a half-dozen other Florida counties and municipalities.
The stakes are measurable: the National Association of Home Builders estimates that permits, building codes, inspections, and regulations account for over a quarter of the average sales price of a new home, putting the cost of red tape at $131,734 per new home.
"Most of the permitting failures start at intake," Dugan says. "A misclassification or some small detail is wrong, and the plans will never be compliant. It still takes the county 20 to 30 days to get the feedback. But they can't control if there are empty seats in the department and no one to fill them."
AI is positioned to help because it can work through tedious processes and spot minor differences at intake and beyond. "One county had 400 kinds of permits that accumulated over the years," Mirkin says. "We got rid of 100 that weren't needed."
